No, not literally. But the Roscoe native, who calls herself a “stick-and-ball fan,” has landed what most stick-and-ball fans would consider the ultimate job — an ESPN SportsCenter anchor position.

The former Nicole Manske, a 1999 Hononegah graduate who is married to IndyCar driver Ryan Briscoe, actually started negotiations a year ago and signed the contract last September. She will start in January.

“It’s an amazing opportunity and so cool for a company to believe in you enough to put you in this position,” she said.

Briscoe joined ESPN in 2008 and has served in various positions on ESPN’s NASCAR coverage. She has been in her current role as host of NASCAR Countdown since 2011. But NASCAR did not renew its contract with ESPN and instead went with NBC, meaning Briscoe will be done with her current gig in November. That left the opportunity for Sportscenter.

“I remember when I interviewed for the job I have now in 2008,” she said. “They bring you in to do a screen test and the screen test was on the Sportscenter set. I told my mom at the time that I wondered if they were trying to intimidate you. But I also thought it was so cool.

“When I was 11 years old, the sportscasting dream started to take shape. It’s a little kid’s dream to be on Sportscenter, the kind of dream you think no way it will ever happen.”

The change means Briscoe must broaden her sports knowledge from just auto racing to pretty much all sports.

That won’t be a problem.

“I was born and raised a Packers, Cubs and Bulls fan, so I was a stick-and-ball fan,” she said. “For me, it’s like going home. It’s all the reasons for why I got into sports to begin with.”

In fact, she’s molding her racing husband and 8-month-old daughter Finley into more well-rounded sports fans.

“I turned Ryan into a football fan, and just recently got him into baseball,” she said. “For baseball, I’ve kind of lost my allegiance for the Cubs, partly out of distance and partly out of frustration. Right now its’ up in the air between Boston and the Yankees because they’re both two hours from our house.

“For football, it’s the Packers. Ryan has no choice in that.”

Briscoe went to college at Northern Illinois University, and while there began her on-air career at WREX in Rockford. She then worked as a general assignment reporter for WANE in Fort Wayne, Indiana, before going to WISH in Indianapolis in 2004 to focus on sports. Covering the Indianapolis 500 there helped her land her next job with the Speed Channel in 2006.

Then the former Miss Illinois Teen USA was hired by ESPN in 2008 and the climb to SportsCenter anchor began.

As for her new time slot and anchor partner, that hasn’t been determined yet.

“I’m sure you have to pay your dues, so I’ll have to go in and gladly work whatever shift and with whoever they tell me,” she said. “I know a large majority of people there so I’m really looking forward to whatever they have for me.”